A few people have requested more frequent communication from us– so a goal for 2017 is to send you a newsletter each month! Below is a summary from Tom’s trip to Haiti, written by a colleague, Ted Miller. Ted and his wife Jean have served as missionaries for eighteen years.
Hi there!

My name is Ted, but I'm writing to tell you about Tom, as we are heading home from Haiti. I’ve been to Radio Lumiere, a radio station in Port-au-Prince, Haiti several times, but this was Tom’s first visit there.

Ted, Tom, and workers at Radio Lumiere

This trip is part of an ongoing project at SonSet Solutions (where Tom and Candice work, via Reach Beyond) to update the Radio Lumiere studios. Part of the project is to store their audio on computer servers, so it is always available for use. We call this the Audio Guardian system (AG for short). Because of the unique demands of Haiti and the unique demands of radio, we needed to design and program a unique computer system. I started writing the programs needed to run the AG program, but it was going to take forever to get all the details right. I dragged Tom into this project, so he has been spending part of his time writing some of the computer code that makes this system tick. When it came time to install the system, our department manager thought it would be a good idea for Tom to go with me and help with the installation. It turned out to be a great idea.

Tom during a training session

Having Tom along made it possible to do some things that I would not have been able to do by myself. There were several times that things came up where they said “This isn’t really going to work very well for us. Can you change the program so it….” and Tom always said “Yes, we can change that.” Every time he got it done, along with all the other stuff I had asked him to do. I’d often find Tom sitting on his bed in our room at the radio station, updating the computer programs well into the night. Tom was also instrumental in communication, having a basic fluency in French, and provided the training for radio staff.

Over the past couple of weeks in Haiti we’ve installed all the equipment needed to store and use the new audio system: Three computer servers (along with clean power to nourish them), a separate network, and two computers with special radio playback software. The program we wrote to keep track of all the audio is running, and they have started putting in their songs. There is still more work to be done, but it is up and running.

I’ve never known such a mature 10-year-old as Tom. No, Tom isn’t a grade-school prodigy, but it has only been about 10 years since Tom met Jesus in a personal way. During those 10 years, Tom has learned more about his Lord, the Bible, and Christian life than a lot of people who have been saved for 40 years. During our 17 days of living together, we talked about a lot of different things, and Tom has learned about and thought about pretty much everything spiritual that came up during our conversations. I kept expecting to hit things Tom hadn’t heard about or thought about, but it just didn’t happen. He really understands what being a Christian is all about, including using his life in a way that counts for eternity.

Thank you for supporting Tom and his family in missions. Because of him, and because of Him, we are able to reach further and assist more ministry partners, in greater ways.